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Beach student accused of making bomb threat

Campus Police have arrested one teenager who is believed to have called in one of six bomb threats at Beach High School.

Beach student Jason Patterson, 17, called in the bomb threat around 8 a.m. Monday, according to Latisha Arrington, a spokeswoman for Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools.

Police are continuing to investigate five other bomb threats, the latest of which was made around 1 p.m. Thursday.

Campus Police Chief Ulysses Bryant said his officers are close to catching other suspects.

The first bomb threat was called in Jan. 17 and subsequent threats have been made every school day except Jan. 26.

Each time, the school is evacuated, bomb-sniffing dogs are brought in and police officers scour the building for anything dangerous.

Bryant said he's taking the threats very seriously.

Thursday, he brought in the bomb-detection dogs plus other law enforcement officers before students even reported to class just to search for any explosive devices in the school.

"We treat all the calls as though they are real until we have evidence that proves otherwise," Bryant said. "It ties up a lot of resources and, let's face it, it's a crime."

Patterson is being held at the Chatham County Jail, charged with a felony count of making a false public alarm.

The teen's arrest falls on the heels of the arrest Wednesday of two 13-year-old girls who are accused of calling in a bomb threat Tuesday to Mercer Middle School, according to Bucky Burnsed, school spokesman.

The girls are being held at the Chatham County Youth Detention Center until a hearing today.

A bomb threat called into Shuman Middle School on Tuesday also is under investigation.

Bryant said he's making progress in tracking down who's responsible for the other five threats at Beach.

"We're working the case very actively and have developed some good leads," Bryant said.

Until police arrest the others, Bryant said he'd be thankful if the calls would just stop.

"Each time we get a call we bring in the K-9s from the Chatham County Sheriff's Office and Savannah-Chatham police provide assistance," Bryant said. "It also puts a strain on my staff, who I bring from other schools to help."

And it taxes the learning process.

Students are missing out on valuable class time, Burnsed said Wednesday. The school system might make Beach students repeat the days they've missed as a result of the evacuations.

"We're going to have to take a really close look at (the class time missed)," Burnsed said. "We may have to do other things to make up those classes. We've got to make sure these kids are succeeding in the classroom and getting all the instruction they deserve."